The Dragon Republic

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The Searing Follow Up To 2018 S Most Celebrated Fantasy Debut THE POPPY WAR.In The Aftermath Of The Third Poppy War, Shaman And Warrior Rin Is On The Run Haunted By The Atrocity She Committed To End The War, Addicted To Opium, And Hiding From The Murderous Commands Of Her Vengeful God, The Fiery Phoenix Her Only Reason For Living Is To Get Revenge On The Traitorous Empress Who Sold Out Nikan To Their Enemies.With No Other Options, Rin Joins Forces With The Powerful Dragon Warlord, Who Has A Plan To Conquer Nikan, Unseat The Empress, And Create A New Republic Rin Throws Herself Into His War After All, Making War Is All She Knows How To Do.But The Empress Is A Powerful Foe Than She Appears, And The Dragon Warlord S Motivations Are Not As Democratic As They Seem The Rin Learns, The She Fears Her Love For Nikan Will Drive Her Away From Every Ally And Lead Her To Rely And On The Phoenix S Deadly Power Because There Is Nothing She Won T Sacrifice For Her Country And Her Vengeance.The Sequel To R.F Kuang S Acclaimed Debut THE POPPY WAR, THE DRAGON REPUBLIC Combines The History Of 20th Century China With A Gripping World Of Gods And Monsters, To Devastating Effect.

R.F. Kuang

10 thoughts on “The Dragon Republic”

WTFI was nervous going into this book that it wouldn t be as great as the first one but here we areLove the world, love the magic system, love the characters development and where the story is going I really liked how the world keeps getting bigger and complex.I can t wait to see what the last book will bring

Omg I have this pre ordered and was going to read with my group and reread first one I will just reread them ALL later Netgalley came through I almost fell over So it s on baby REVIEW DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN That ending DAMN DAMN DAMN This will be a short review I m not going to spoil anything but you can skim over some of the quotes as you might consider them as a spoiler.The Dragon Republic starts out with a bang right out of the gates as I like to say Rin is messed the hell up She s fighting Opium addiction and trying to control her power I had so many moments that I felt for her, so many moments I wanted to strangle her for being so stupid and childish But most of all, I loved watching her grow in this book Rin went through some sh t people Not just Rin but her whole crew whom I adored Trying to seek revenge on your enemies while fighting an opium addiction seemed damn near impossible and you could feel every moment with Rin at least I did And trying to fight losing control of your powers This is what the balance of power looked like now People like her waved a hand and millions were crushed within the confines of some elemental disaster, flung off the chessboard of the world like irrelevant pieces People like her shamans, all of them were like children stomping around over entire cities as if they were mud castles, glass houses, fungible entities that could be targeted and demolished Once upon a time at Sinegard, back when Master Jiang had been trying to help her shut her mind to the Phoenix, he d taught her techniques to clear her thoughts and disappear into a void that imitated nonexistence He d taught her how to think like she was dead Suni rubbed circles on her back while she spat blood speckled phlem on the planks When she was done, he smoothed her vomit covered hair out of her eyes as she sucked in air in great, racking sobs You re so strong, he said Whatever you re seeing, whatever you re feeling, it s not as strong as you are Rin has some wonderful friends but a world that is trying to tear her apart from the inside out Rin and her crew are trying to take down the evil Empress but they are getting swindled left and right They end up with the Dragon Warlord trying to fight against others People are killed, used, abused Rin is lied to and watches innocent people die watches people that she knows die It seems like nothing is ever going to get better BUT There just might be a spark of hope in people she didn t even consider There are things brewing Will Rin and her people be able to bring the world down around the evilness Wait and see Finally, spoke the Phoenix The god s voice was dimmed by the Seal, but Rin could hear clearly every ring of its laughter My darling little Speerly At last we agree They re are not the strongest force in the world, Rin said She felt the god s presence in the back of her mind eager, delighted, and at last perfectly aligned with her intentions Together, spoke the Phoenix, we will burn down this world She slammed down her fist against the table I am I think these books are wonderful and the author nailed it in both books so far For me, there was no second book syndrome No holds barred, an incredible tale of hate, war and friendship This is an uncorrected proof of the book and any quotes will be changed if they are not correct in the finished copy I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for a digital copy of this wonderful book for review Mel MY BLOG

ARC provided by the publisher Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review.4.5 5 starsThe newest rising queen of fantasy is back with her newest book, The Dragon Republic, and it managed to live up to my super high expectations.Can we first appreciate just how damn gorgeous the cover of this book is JungShan has created another spectacular cover selling ink illustration and I m confident that many readers will pick up the book series even if they don t know anything about it The same situation as its predecessor, the quality of the content of the book did justice to the beautiful cover art and vice versa I m pretty sure practically everyone who knows me on bookish social media knows how much I loved The Poppy War. I even created a Twitter account just to wish the author a congratulatory message on her debut s publication day If you don t know remember, here s a short snippet of what I said about the first book I have no doubt this will end up being the best fantasy debut of the year a book that will go down as one of the best grimdark military fantasy debuts of all time I have absolutely no doubt that Kuang s name will be up there with the likes of Robin Hobb and N.K Jemisin Yeah suffice to say that I highly loved the first book Since then, The Poppy War has also garnered well deserved praises, nominations, and awards my high expectations towards its sequel were inevitable and I m glad to say that after reading this book, my worry was unfounded and Kuang entranced me once again with her newest installment.No story summary from me if you want to know the plot, read the official synopsis of the book at your own risk Following the catastrophic conclusion of the first book, The Dragon Republic plunges Rin and her companions into a brand new war In the first installment, Kuang divided her storytelling clearly into two sections a coming of age battle school fantasy for the first half and a grim military fantasy for the second half Unlike other series like The Kingkiller Chronicle or Harry Potter, where the characters continue training in schools, The Dragon Republic threw away the battle school concept completely, turning the book completely into a cleverly crafted military fantasy Full of darkness, tactics, shifting allegiances, war and death, Kuang continues her trademark of delivering a superb story that vividly explores the horrors of war I loved Kuang s prose in the first book, which is why I found it to be incredibly satisfying to read her stunning improvement in prose within this novel This is a significantly bigger book than The Poppy War, it s almost 700 pages long and yet there wasn t any moment that felt boring or dull The engaging narrative and prose captivated me thoroughly from cover to cover the second half in particular especially the last 20%, on this later was simply amazing and pulse pounding War changes everyone indiscriminately no one came out of it unscathed mentally or physically The escalating and harrowing effects or aftermath of war were shown expertly through the well developed characterizations You will die thinking I have abandoned you all But I do not hesitate to say that I value the lives of my people far than I have ever valued you As with its predecessor, the narrative was told exclusively through Rin s perspective The events of the first book have left Rin riddled with guilt, regret, and anger To say that Rin is angry is seriously putting it mildly She s angry at the world, at herself, at her friends, at everything War has changed her and her companions, and yet they still can t catch a break peace remains firmly lodged out of grasp and unforgettable loss continues to happen This is a grim book, written with mature and refined prose the character s darkness and personality elicited emotional responses of all kinds from me I mentioned in my review of the first book that that Rin is one of my favorite heroines in fantasy because I found her to be very well written and her personality traits were really clear That being said, something you have to know is that Rin is inspired by Mao Zedong, Rin does make questionable decisions She has no impulse control, and she does a lot of stupid things because of her anger and what happened to her In her path toward overcoming legacy, opium addiction, and accepting her power, Kuang deconstructs Rin s character completely down to her core, presenting her at her worst for almost the entirety of the first half I ll admit that in the first half, there were moments where I wanted to slap her several times, and in my honest opinion, this period of time could ve been shortened a bit However, seeing her at her worst did make her the fruition of her character development in the second half stronger This situation reminded me of Blood of Assassins by R.J Barker, another book I really loved which involved the main character being driven heavily by darkness and rage, but came out all the better once the character was able to overcome it I highly praise Kuang for her characterization for Rin and the side characters Most of the side characters helped immensely in bringing moments of heartwarming and light to balance Rin s life their interactions were charming, compelling, and I loved reading about them.The world building has also moved further beyond Nikara and the Mugenese federation The new race, Hesperian, came into play here Hesperian is a race of Westerners, most likely an allusion Germany during World War II, and their arrival brought technologies, arquebuses, airships, and expansion to the world building Not only was the world building expanded, but Kuang also provided revelations and in depth lore to the history of her world One last thing before I close this review I would like to applaud Kuang s imaginative and destructive depiction of the magical battle scenes The action sequences were simply magnificent and the last 20% of the book demonstrates Kuang s best battle scenes and closing sequences so far It was insanely breathtaking, by showing the power of a vermillion myth and the gods, the clash of the blazing rage and overwhelming cyclone were extremely well executed The actions and character s decisions constantly delivered immense implications for future events of the series Kuang truly ignited her skill in writing great military fantasy within the last 20% and I honestly can t wait for The gripping naval warfare, brilliant aerial combat, tension packed elemental battle, and the unflinching infernal torrent of powers were vividly realized and felt cinematic to read This was what the balance of power looked like now People like her waved a hand and millions were crushed within the confines of some elemental disaster, flung off the chessboard of the world like irrelevant pieces I don t think I have anything else to say without spoiling any events from the series If you loved The Poppy War, I honestly think that you have nothing to worry about The Dragon Republic is an unputdownable sequel that deflects the infamous middle book syndrome with brutal precision With The Dragon Republic, Kuang has proven that her debut wasn t a one hit wonder, further establishing herself as the new rising queen of fantasy The architect behind Jade City said Brace yourself Let me just add that you ll have to find an adamantium building to hold on to The might and rage of the Phoenix knows no limit, and Rin s newest journey will mercilessly incinerate your heart up to the last page Rebecca Kuang and this series is truly a treasure for Asian inspired military fantasy and I simply can t wait to read the conclusion of this trilogy Sidenote The dark atmosphere in this book was truly palpable, bad things happen, a LOT Make sure you re in the right mood and headspace before you read this book Also, FireDick happened, literally.Official release date August 8th, 2019 UK and August 6th, 2019 US You can pre order the book from UK US Book Depository Free shipping The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

I received an uncorrected proof copy of The Dragon Republic in exchange for an honest review I would like to thank R.F Kuang and Harper Voyager.The Dragon Republic is a phenomenal follow up to what was one of my highest rated fantasy books of 2018, and I think this exceeds the debut in almost everyway.Rin is a drug addled individual who has the monstrous, murderous and perhaps demented power of the Phoenix at her fingertips We join her here as the commander of the Cike potentially orchestrating her shamans who can wield the extraordinary power of certain Gods Those few lucky enough to be able to manipulate such absurd yet undeniably powerful magical abilities have to look forward to one of two eventualities Death or utter madness as the Gods seem to easily overpower their hosts so that these shamans will no longer be able to control their actions Since the finale of The Poppy War, Rin has built a steady but not completely trustworthy relationship with a Pirate Queen Rin completes tasks for her under an agreement that she will be supported when she turns her attention to the bigger picture Which, of course, is getting her revenge by murdering the Empress This Oriental influenced dark fantasy epic features a huge world, all the political intrigue you could hope for, expertly presented dramatic moments, smooth dialogue, and also, the narrative often leaves the reader wondering if the person about to be betrayed is going to betray the betrayer beforehand You ll have no idea who to trust and something intense and unpredictable happens at least every sixty pages It features the majority of the ensemble from The Poppy War but since those events began approximately four years ago these characters have changed so much following their involvement in the last war One of my favourite aspects of this novel was the relationships between Rin and a lot of the major characters These include the genius strategist Nikay, the twins Chaghan and Qara, and her sort of father figure The Dragon Warlord All the above being stated though, nowhere near the majority of the ensemble who started The Dragon Republic make it to the end so be warned Many of your most loved players will die Possibly in horrible fashion A main character from the first novel who was one of my favourites returns but I don t want to mention his name just in case that approaches spoiler territory His and Rin s chemistry is dynamic, to say the least Love, hatred, respect, admiration, disgust, misunderstanding My reading of Rin personally, as the novel is still presented solely from her point of view, reflected the above mentioned feelings Half the time I adored her and the other half I couldn t follow her train of thought when considering consequences She s a brilliant and complex protagonist who is drug addicted, recruited for a cause not her own, she loses something important to her, acquires dramatic new abilities all whilst having a God whispering in her ear and a vendetta to complete It s as much of a headfuck for the reader as it must be for Rin herself so congratulations to Kuang for presenting it this way.R.F Kuang is the brightest new star in adult fantasy which I guess is an oxymoron as she writes some of the darkest material around right now The Dragon Republic truly ups the Grimdark ante There are some utterly gruesome moments There is a huge amount of chaotic war action presented throughout and all the nastiness that comes with it The rebellion events in the novel take over 14 months so we re witnesses to amazing naval battles, sieges, land and guerilla warfare, and even a race that flaunt plasma like weapons and have built airships The latter may seem out of place if you ve just read this review but it fits in with the overall narrative and will make perfect sense when you get to this story Although young, Kuang has a knack for writing some of the best fantasy and makes it seem effortless She will be mentioned alongside names such as Lynch, Lawrence, and Sapkowski for awesomeness very soon To conclude, what happens at the end of this book is spectacular and the pieces are now set on the metaphorical chess board for what will be a monumental last outing in this series Between us we have the fire and the water, she said quietly I m quite sure that together we can take on the wind.

This review and other non spoilery reviews can be found The Book PrescriptionActual Rating 4.5 stars You will be the spear that brings this empire down The Poppy War was one of my favorite 10 books last year This book is one of my most anticipated books for this year, I was so happy when I was given an ARC through Edelweiss from the publisher Thanks a million and I did not read it immediately because I was scared of being disappointed Kuang proved that she is Queen of Fantasy again and I was left satisfied I will never get over the fact that this book was written by an author who s the same age as me but she did it when she was 19, which is mind blowing There are improvements in the writing to be honest but I slightly prefer book 1 and I will explain why here The author has a great prose and although I find these kind of books harder to read than YA ones, I was not bored at all and I found myself wanting and The second half was better than the first half but all of it were good, there is a very good half and an even better one I did not read TPW before jumping into this one which I regret doing and I think next year I will be re reading both before diving into book 3 so I can get all the details and not miss anything as this is becoming one of my series books of all times The characters were great, I like how Rin is still morally grey, how she has motives and she feels real She is not annoying and I feel myself sympathizing with her too sometimes Here is one of the things I liked better in book 1, the cast was a bit fun to read and I just LOVE the school setting which of course was not here given that they finished that in book 1 However, try not getting attached to any characters because you never know who dies here The first book had some time jumps but this book mostly happens in one period of time That was something I also liked in book 1 The world is expanded here and the political intrigue is even complex and 2 maps were provided and I think there is room for expansion The plot twists were great and the book still goes into dark places and you need to be in the right mind set to read it I suck at providing TW so I hope someone else does I just had to stop from the shock sometimes and I was like Who hurt you Kuang, whyyyyyyyy and I mean this in the best possible way Summary and Prescription If you liked book 1 then you will probably like this book 2, if you did not read book 1, then what are you waiting for this is one of the best fantasy books that I recently read and I encourage all fantasy fans to do so but beware of the heavy things it deal with.

Fang Runin Her weed I roll that Her hand I hold that Her back I got that Her wife I am that Needs someone to die for her I ll do that Between us, we have the fire and the water, she said quietly I m quite sure that together, we can take on the wind I HAVE NO FREAKIN GODDAMN WORDSHere I am thinking nothing can be epic than The Poppy War and R.F Kuang comes and smacks me across the face with THIS BOOK The BREADTH this world has THE DEPTH these characters have THE COMPLEXITY of morality and relationships in this series the HISTORICAL REFERENCING that underpin this series creating an interesting mirror of our own world The TWISTS, TURNS AND INCREDIBLE PLOT that has given so much intricacy in this second book The entire time reading this I just couldn t stop thinking about how no one I ve read writes fantasy like R.F Kuang She truly owns my whole assALSO, we re not gonna think about all those Zutara dynamics and how she really fucked me up with that water and fire metaphor I m really not strong enoughDeserved 5 star for Kitay making a dick joke about Nezha regardless of anything else tbhReview to come

4.5 stars Between us, we have the fire and the water, she said quietly I m quite sure that together, we can take on the wind In one of my status updates, I asked, Is it possible to be sexually attracted to a book The answer is yes Unequivocally yes.Those of you that might have been worried The Dragon Republic suffers from Second Book Syndrome can rest easy There s mountains of overarching plot in this baby It picks up pretty soon after the events of the last book Rin is commander of the Cike now that Altan is dead and has turned assassin for Moag, the self proclaimed pirate queen, in exchange for troops and resources to take on Empress Daji That falls apart rather quickly though and Rin soon finds herself thrown back into war behind the Dragon Warlord, Nezha s father, as he plans a coup There are so many twists Some I called ages ago, like view spoiler Nezha being alive and is a shaman, hide spoiler